HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – They have nicknames like Noodles, The clash, and Trash Can Dude. They hail from California and Hawai‘i, New Jersey and South Carolina. And, there are some things nobody knows about them. “I like to take baths.”
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – They have nicknames like Noodles, The clash, and Trash Can Dude. They hail from California and Hawai‘i, New Jersey and South Carolina. And, there are some things nobody knows about them.
“I like to take baths.”
“I read the Bible every day.”
“I sleep in the attic.”
“I like the Japanese toilet system.”
“I still watch Saturday morning cartoons.”
They are members of the 2004/2005 USA Surf Team, and thanks to the newly appointed National Governing Body called Surfing America, they’ll be introduced to the public on Dec. 2 in Huntington Beach, also known as “Surf City,” and will hold their first official practice.
They will be receiving their uniforms, meeting with their coaches and training together in some of the most challenging surf on the West Coast. The public is invited to attend.
The team is on its way to Tahiti for its first International Surfing Association (ISA) competition, the ISA Quiksilver Junior World Championships, and a chance at restoring America’s reputation as a breeding ground for the best surfers in the world.
The most familiar team member may be Bethany Hamilton, the promising 14-year-old surfer from Hanalei, Hawai‘i, who was attacked by a shark in October 2003 and lost her left arm. Bethany was back on her board by Thanksgiving and won two regional surf competitions before being named to the USA Surf Team last summer in Huntington Beach. Her story of faith and resilience has earned Bethany ESPN’s “Comeback of the Year” ESPY Award, a Teen Choice award and a spot next to Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps as one of Outside Magazine’s 2005 All Stars.
But Surfing America hopes to make everyone on this powerhouse team of young talent household names and an inspiration to the next generation of amateur surfers.
The recognition of Huntington Beach-based Surfing America as National Governing Body this year is an extraordinary feat in itself. Until now, competitive surfers in the United States have been a loose-knit crew gathered under scattered organizations from Hawai‘i to the East Coast.
Professional surfers survived on corporate endorsements and prize money.
However, young amateurs waiting in the ranks had no clear competitive road map to follow, no true national training programs, no dependable way to pay for all the travel and entry fees for competitions around the world.
“Competitive surfing in America, on all levels, has been dysfunctional far too long and this is a critical step in our master plan to fix the situation,” said Michael Gerard, executive director of Surfing America.
“By uniting all of the top U.S. surfing organizations under the Surfing America umbrella, we’ve created a system that feeds the best athletes of each organization into a single USA Championship and USA Surf Team selection event. And this inaugural USA Surf Team is the result,” Gerard added.
It makes perfect sense for Surfing America to call Huntington Beach home because it has become the epicenter for the sport of surfing, its industry and its culture,” Gerard said. Living up to its moniker of “Surf City, USA,” the city hosts more than 38 surf contests every year, including the largest and most prestigious contest of all – the U.S. Open of Surfing and Beach Games. It is home to two of the world’s leading surf shops – Jack’s Surfboards and Huntington Surf and Sport – as well as the International Surfing Museum, the Surfer’s Hall of Fame and the Surfing Walk of Fame.
Many of the nations top surfwear manufacturers also have their headquarters in or near Huntington Beach.
Surfing America runs the North America Regional Office of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) from its Huntington Beach headquarters and administers the domestic pro surfing events that qualify pro athletes to ASP’s prestigious World Championship Tour.
“This USA Surf Team is more than a team we send to events,” added Gerard. “It’s the athlete development program that has been missing for decades—and a critical component in the American system we envision for the future. The USA Surf Team will give our nation’s top amateurs the international experience they need to successfully bridge the gap from being a top ranked amateur to becoming a contender on the international pro tour.”
The ultimate goal of this ambitious new organization is to play a leadership role in competitive surfing worldwide by establishing a national framework for competition, selecting teams from the best surfers in the nation and raising sponsorship money to pay for their expenses.
Surfing America hopes to develop training standards and endorse surf schools, camps and recreation programs across the country to nurture new talent.
“This is the best junior talent assembled in America in a decade and, it’s my belief ISA medals are definitely within reach,” said Peter “PT” Townend, a former world surfing champion who recently was named head coach of the 2004 team. Townend also coached the USA’s World Champion Team in 1984 and is currently coaching the Dwyer Middle School team from Huntington Beach. Dywer’s team is a four-time NSSA Interscholastic National Champion team.
In recent years, the U.S. surf team has ranked close to last in the world championships, lagging behind countries like France, Japan and even Ireland. In the World Surfing Games held earlier this year—before Surfing America took the reigns—the U.S. surf team finished in 19th place, even behind land-locked Switzerland!
Surfing America aims to establish itself as a legitimate contender this year and to host the 2005 World Junior Surfing Championships and the 2006 World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach. Already, Gerard has secured sponsorship pledges and support from major surf manufacturers.In addition, the industry media is contributing valuable exposure for Surfing America’s events and teams.
The formation of an official USA Surf Team to represent the country in international surfing competitions also will help talented young surfers obtain the funding and support they need from the industry, which now has a team to sponsor instead of just promising individuals spread across the country.
The event is expected to draw hundreds of young surfers and team members from nearby high schools in Huntington Beach, who will have the chance to meet their heroes, ask some questions at the news conference and maybe even catch a wave beside a USA Surf Team member.
But they had better stay clear of Courtney Conlogue, a 12-year-old surfing phenom from Santa Ana, Calif., who says her biggest pet peeve is “when a kook hops me on a wave.”
These young surfers may be amateurs, but they’re not giving up a wave that easily.
